News - April 2019

DE VALLS BLUFF, Ark. – Along with the state’s other major commodities, Arkansas corn
growers are fighting an uphill — if not upriver — battle to get seed in the ground
and establish a stand, as the last days of “early planting” roll by.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Plant pathologist Clemencia M. Rojas received a $900,000 National
Science Foundation Career Award that will help support her investigation of the biological
warfare waged between plants and pathogenic bacteria.

UNDATED – The nation’s Extension Risk Management Education Centers are hosting a workshop
May 22-23 to help agriculture industry professionals and academics get up to speed
on the latest Farm Bill, so they can help their clients.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Environmental regulations provide both protections and challenges
— protections for natural resources and the people and animals who depend on them;
compliance challenges for many landowners. At the Mid-South Agricultural and Environmental
Law Conference, Jim Noles, founding partner at Barze Taylor Noles Lowther, LLC, will
address how attorneys, lenders and landowners can best navigate related regulatory
issues.

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. – The upcoming Blueberry School, a three-date educational event
organized by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, will cover
everything from the first-day-in-the-field fundamentals to the latest in research-based
recommendations, said Amanda McWhirt, extension commercial horticulture specialist
for the Division of Agriculture.

LITTLE ROCK – Matt Dunne, founder and executive director of the Center for Rural Innovation
in Hartland, Vermont, will be the keynote speaker at the 2019 Breakthrough Solutions
Conference, scheduled for June 26 at the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension
Service headquarters in Little Rock.

BATESVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas cattle producers looking to improve their return on investment
should consider preconditioning calves before taking them to market, extension specialists
told attendees at the Livestock and Forestry Station field day on Tuesday.

BATESVILLE, Ark. – Ranchers looking to sharpen their pasture and baleage management
tactics can learn how on May 7 at the stored forage workshop being hosted by the Livestock
and Forestry Research Station near Batesville.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Three years of dedication, academic excellence and ambition have
earned University of Arkansas entomology graduate student Hillary Fischer the $15,000
Scholar Award from the Philanthropic Education Organization.

HOPE, Ark. – Cattle producers wanting to improve their stock through artificial insemination
will have the opportunity to take part in a comprehensive, hands-on training program
to be held April 25-26 and June 27-28.

CONWAY, Ark. – The hives, hooves, horns and plants of the 2019 Farm Round Up will
bring agriculture up close and personal for the more than 1,150 second graders registered
to take part in the April 17-18 event.

CONWAY, Ark. — A Star City junior won the Soybean Science Challenge state championship
at the 2019 State Soybean Science Challenge award at the Southwestern Energy Arkansas
State Science and Engineering Fair at Central Arkansas University in Conway, March
30.

LITTLE ROCK — After a bruising 2017, in which substantial spring flooding cost growers
in the state an estimated $175 million in lost production and damaged acreage, rice
growers saw higher production in 2018 than in any of the three previous years, according
to an April 4 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

LITTLE ROCK – After nearly three decades, the Arkansas Flower and Garden Show has
seen its share of of highs and lows. And while the freezing rain of early March dealt
both attendees and organizers a tough hand in 2019, it hasn’t deterred board members
from looking forward to what’s expected to be a landmark year for the show in 2020.

LITTLE ROCK – Watermelon growers interested in use of cover crops and seedless varieties
will be able to see relevant University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
research in action at two field days in May.

HOPE, Ark. – The 2019 Horticultural Field Day is scheduled for May 16 at the Southwest
Research and Extension Center in Hope. The day-long event will include a symposium
of experts speaking on subjects ranging from blackberry, blueberry and muscadine production
to identifying and managing troublesome pests, including root-knot nematodes and common
diseases.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A professor and poultry expert with the University of Arkansas
System Division of Agriculture has been named a recipient of the 2019 President’s
Award from the Research Chefs Association, a national professional association dedicated
to culinary arts and the science of food.